Dad Blames Microsoft for Son's Xbox Live Spending Spree

[FoolKiller]

Microsoft does need to add an option to make it so you need verification for purchase <.< Almost got hoodwinked by Apple in the same way. Those in-app purchases are just as insidious.

Agreed. And I hate that they are also allowed in game in the same way. If I play Need for Speed and don't have the in-game money to buy the car and you auto click through the menu (because they put it in as the default click A option) you very quickly end up at the purchase page. I know that it is a verification process, but its shoved in there in a sneaky way.

No way am I saying that the father isn't to blame, but there is some amount of blame to place on EA in this situation because they set it up so that if you aren't really careful you can accidentally spend money. It's basically a minefield.

I hate the fact that I as an adult don't have a way to ask for a password on my own account when I'm logged in to play games. Just because I am logged in doesn't mean I want to be able to access my money from it. Its like being logged into my bank account on my laptop just because I am on the internet. It's absolute shit.

 

[Pyrian]

I remember being 12 and my parents not being into gaming. Let me tell you all a few details of what that meant.

It meant that the kid set up the Xbox. Daddy bought him a toy and let him play with it. Did the kid put parental controls on himself? Of course he didn't. The kid said, "Hey Dad can I have a few bucks to play on-line?" "Sure, why not..." And nothing in the system let the father know that he wasn't just signing up for the on-line account, he was also linking his financial information for the Xbox to use on an ad-hoc basis. 'Cause, y'know, they want to make it easy for you to give them money...

 

[Screamarie]

Wait wait wait. Does it show how much the points to get something will cost or does it show how many points something will cost? That would make a pretty big difference in believing the Fathers story.

It'll show you how many points it cost, BUT unless you already have the right amount of points on your account, before you can complete the transaction you have to "add points" and there it will show you the point packages you can purchase and how much each package costs.

There may be other ways to do it, I suppose that could have confused the kid, but I really do think either the kid or dad is lying.

 

[MagmaMan]

The father is definitely the one to blame here, but the son is also a dumbass. Was he really thick enough to believe that he could get all that stuff free?

 

[likalaruku]

Looks like someone already spent his wad for Christmas & birthday.

As for the child settings, well...If you want to open a childproof bottle, give it to a child.

 

[silent-treatment]

Umm, I don't own an xbox, and I don't play FIFA or CoD so I am ignorant to the way these things work, but how the hell does one pay £100 on these games once, let alone every day for 6 months? Seriously is there that many content packets or was the kid going elsewhere to spend his Dad's money?

OT: So yeah the kid knew what he was doing unless his parents really never taught him how monetized services work. I seriously doubt there isn't a section on the purchase screen that states an amount of money due. The kid probably got away with it once, and decided to push the envelope and it got out of control, you know like kids tend to do.

 

[teebeeohh]

well the dad either didn't know or care enough to set up the xbox properly so his son can use it without wasting money. WHY THE FUCK is nobody bothered that the kid plays cod?

I'm guessing everyone who played DOOM waited until they were 18 to play?

no, but nobody i know had parents who allowed them to play doom(or quake, which was my poison of choice), forcing us to play it when our parents were not home. you can't stop your children playing games they really want to (i imagine it's a lot easier today since almost everything you play on a console is recorded in some way) but you should at least regulate what they play at home, the same way you would with other media.
and children shouldn't play online MP.

 

[Siberian Relic]

You're responsible for your child. That's what makes you the parent.

"He didn't realize it was costing real money...."

That's a lie, pops. The default excuse from a kid--and especially a boy--who's been caught doing something stupid/wrong/dangerous is almost always: "I didn't know!"

 

[synobal]

I call BS on this, it took the parent 6 months to realize that his card was being used to buy stuff on xbox live? Stuff he didn't buy? I think the dad bought all this stuff and now 6 months later he's having buyers remorse or perhaps is having financial trouble and realizes he can't really afford the charges now. So he's getting his son to play the fall guy, no one takes 6 months to realize that there are strange charges on their credit card.

 

[Starke]

Ghera entered his credit card details into Xbox Live in order to pay the monthly subscription fee, but he didn't release that the service automatically retains your credit card details for later purchases.

I think that was supposed to be "realize".

Anyway, on topic, I love these stories, they pop up like clockwork, and they're equally ridiculous every time...

 

[Worgen]

Well, hes technically not wrong about blaming ms for this. They have made it very easy to buy things and as far as I know there is no way to take you'r credit card off an account unless your updating it to a new card. Hell, I've heard about them charging expired cards before. I think Jim Sterling had a rant about that.

Most services do require some kind of password before you actually buy something so its rather understandable if he assumed the 360 would have something similar.

Although I have no idea how the hell the kid managed to spend over 1k on cod and fifa.

Not sure where ya heard that, but I just checked, I went to my XBL account page, went to my payment options and clicked remove on my card, it asked me if I was sure and when I clicked yes that was the end of that. Took about 10 seconds total.

OT: The blame rests entirely on the dad, its an expensive lesson on how to be a better parent, but he desperately needed it obviously.

Guess they finally changed it then, I haven't really used my 360 in over a year. I'm like two big updates out of date on the stupid thing.

How exactly is it an expensive lesson in being a better parent?

 

[The Random One]

And I agree. The first time I bought something on Live I was appalled at how easy it was. There are none of the checks any online retailer should have. For the sake of convenience I have to choose between entering my credit card number every time I want to make a purchase, sticking to prepaid cards that defeat the point of online purchases, or leaving my credit card number there at the mercy of any script kiddy who can hack my hotmail account. One of the many reasons I won't stick with Microsoft after this gen.

 

[Keepitclean]

In this case it sounds like the child is a manipulative little shit. I highly doubt that he didn't know it was real money that he was spending. The father didn't know what he was getting himself into and his son took advantage.

This isn't Microsoft's fault. This could have been easily avoided by the father but his son took advantage of his father's trust.

 

[chadachada123]

I...I don't think that it's even possible to spend over 1000 pounds on DLC for two games.

Can someone explain how that's possible, at all?

Also, I second the notion that the kid is a lying shithead, and that the father is an idiot for not checking out his billing statements.

 

[1337mokro]

I blame you for:

Not teaching your son that money is earned with work.

Not teaching your son the value of a dollar.

Giving your twelve year old kid access to a creditcard.

Not monitoring his spending more closely.

Not enabling the ParentalControls on your Xbox360.

Not raising your kid properly.


I blame Microsoft:

For selling consoles to the obviously mentally challenged.


Playing the blame game is fun.

 

[Rad Party God]

Stupid parent is stupid.

Microsoft's reps are right, the kid shouldn't be playing COD in the first place and then, how in the fucking fuck did he spend so much in just "COD and FIFA"?, did he bought every single map pack for COD since Modern Warfare 2?.

The stupid parent is the only one to blame here, not Microsoft.

 

[Erttheking]

Am I the only one curious as to what the kid bought? I mean really, what can you do with that kind of money. Anyway, the Dad made an account and let the kid run wild with it. His fault, not microsoft. And I'm a little torn about kids that are 12 playing violent games like that, so I say it comes down to the judgement of the parents and it's up to them if they think that they can handle it, but they should make a choice and not be wishy washy about it. Only let your kid play it if you think he can handle it. I would highly recommend not letting them play online though, or if they do, making it so that everyone is muted and only friends can send you messages.

 

[lotanerve]

Do you need a credit card to be on XBL now? I thought you could buy membership/point cards at your local Walmart (or the European equivalent) to prevent this. At least you can buy iTunes cards to buy stuff without having your credit card on file. Don't see why you can't do the do the same for XBL.